McDonald’s said its decision was not prompted by changes in the UK taxation of foreign profits from intellectual property rights made by Alastair Darling, the finance minister, this year. However, the company said the move “enables us to conduct the strategic management of key international intellectual property rights, including the licensing of those rights to our franchisees in Europe, from Switzerland”.

McDonald’s has spread much of its operations around six or seven cities in Europe, but its headquarters has long been in London, where it opened its first outlet in 1974.

The growing success of Switzerland, Luxembourg and Ireland at attracting multinationals is causing disquiet in European centres such as London, although the Swiss lifestyle and efficient transport have also been cited as contributing factors behind corporate decisions.

Under the UK tax rules that came into force at the start of the month, McDonald’s would be paying tax on foreign profits relating to intellectual property twice over.

The group, which said its UK business would remain unaffected, also said it expected its overall British annual tax rate to remain unchanged at about 30 per cent.

Several senior members of McDonald’s Europe’s management team will relocate to Geneva, including including Denis Hennequin, president of McDonald’s operations in Europe.

The issue of companies moving their main centre of operations outside the UK has dogged the UK Treasury.

Mr Darling last year bowing to pressure and scrapped reforms to the taxation of foreign profits that threatened to provoke an exodus of companies from the UK.

Since the start of 2008, WPP, Shire, Regus, Henderson, Charter, Beazley, Brit Insurance and UBM have all announced that they are moving their tax base out of the UK.

MAKES YOU WONDER HOW MUCH INVESTMENT WE WOULD SEE HERE IN THE USA IF WE DID NOT HAVE THE 2ND HIGHEST COPRORATE TAX RATE IN THE WORLD!!!

MAYBE WE WOULD HAVE JOBS RATHER THAN BE FORCED TO BECOME WARDS OF THE NANNYSTATE…

THE POLITICO’S IN WASHINGTON WILL HAVE NONE OF THIS… MORE TAXES… MORE REGULATION… MORE GOVERNMENT… LESS JOBS… LESS FREE ENTERPRISE… LESS FREEDOM…